Sellers of powdered goods, such as facial cosmetics, have traditionally used real products (sometimes referred to as "live" products) to display their goods for sale. Replicated powdered goods have not been used because current replication techniques have failed to produce replicas which provide true color and texture representation of the goods they are intended to represent. This has been especially true in the cosmetics industry where customers are very sensitive to slight variations in color and texture of the goods they intend to purchase.
The current use of live products for display samples has several drawbacks. Live products tend to be expensive and require careful handling. Live products are subject to smudging, cracking, and discoloration whenever handled or transported. Even after they are placed in a display, as shown in FIG. 1, static electricity causes powder particles from the live products to attach to the inner walls of the display case and discolor other neighboring products. The live products are also subject to discoloration, breaking and cracking as a result of continued exposure to light and heat. Consequently, live products have a limited display life and must be replaced regularly, and tend to be positioned in closed, clear containers which affect viewing of the products.
Current duplication methods do not use color pigments which are used in the real products and have failed to produce replicas which provide a true representation of the real product's color and texture. One current replication technique involves the use of lithography to reproduce a replica of the "live" product. However, because the color coating produced by the lithography process is relatively thin the replicated elements tend to be glossy and are subject to discoloration. The thinness of the coating used in the lithography process prevents the use of the pigments which are used in the actual powders because the true pigments are too thick for the lithography process thereby making reproduction of the real powder's color difficult, if not impossible. The failure of current duplication methods to reproduce a true color and texture representation of the real products has forced retail sellers of the powder products to use "live" product displays despite their many drawbacks.
It is an objective of this invention to provide a powder replication method which produces a true representation of a powder element's color and texture. It is a further objective of this invention to provide a replication method which provides replicas that do not fade, smudge or crack upon exposure to light, heat or handling.
It is a further objective of this invention to provide a display panel which uses a plurality of such replicated elements to display a number of products so as to reproduce a comparative viewing of the different colors and textures of the various powdered products available.